


I'll Shine Your Shoes and Capture Your Heart

by aturtlesheart



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dehydration, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Homeless Peter Parker, Kid Peter Parker, Minor Character Death, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Sick Peter Parker, Starvation, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-05 19:31:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17331032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aturtlesheart/pseuds/aturtlesheart
Summary: Peter shines shoes, there's not much else a homeless eight-year-old can do, especially if he wants to pay for Mrs. Morris' expensive medication. He's in luck though, because Tony Stark just so happens to have a lot of shoes and a big heart. Tony finds himself scuffing his shoes on purpose just to see the kid again, but news of fakers on the streets and Peter's too big heart causes some miscommunications. Peter just wants to have one person to love in his life, is that too much to ask?





	I'll Shine Your Shoes and Capture Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, it's Daisy! I'm super excited for this fic! I've been sitting on this au for a while now, so why not kick off the new year with no regrets!!!  
> A big shoutout to @/kick-namestake-ass on tumblr she's a great person and a big part of my motivation to make this. 
> 
> But anyway happy readings!!!!

Tony was late, but it wasn’t his fault! Okay, maybe it was his fault. He had decided to walk, it was one of those days, he knew if he got stuck in traffic he would probably explode. He turned the corner, one last block and he’d be in a warm café with Rhodey. It was late fall and the chill settled deep in his bones, it made him walk a bit quicker. A small voice rang through his thoughts.

 

“Shoeshine! Get your shoes shined!” His eyes fell on a kid. His hair was matted and fell in his eyes, his pale skin was dirty, and a thin sweater hung loosely on his small frame. His shoes were caked with mud and they were more hole than actual shoe. The boy looked up at him with wide brown eyes. 

 

Tony looked down at his own shoes; he could almost see his reflection. The billionaire started to move away towards the café but shrugged and turned back. “Sure, kid.” The kid perked up and lead him to a bench. He propped one of Tony’s feet on a box in front of him and started working. “What’s your name, kid?”

 

The kid’s eyes narrowed and his shoulders tensed. “Ben.” He muttered. Tony knew the boy was lying but decided not to say anything. “What’s your name, sir?” This time Tony was the one to narrow his eyes. He hummed before answering. “Tony Stark.” The boy nodded and began to talk about a dog he saw just earlier that day. 

 

A few minutes later the kid set Tony’s shoes on the ground. “All finished, Mr. Stark!” Tony looked down at his shoes, they were nearly the exact same, but he guessed it must’ve been hard to get even shinier than they were already. “They look great, Ben.” The kid shuffled happily, Tony chuckled softly and handed Ben $200. Ben froze mid-wiggle. “I-I can’t take all that! It’s too much!” Tony pushes the kid’s small hands back. He turns and leaves the shell-shocked kid. He yells over his shoulder. “You did good, kid.”

 

He’s met with Rhodey’s exasperated face when he gets to the café. “You’re late.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Nearly an hour.”

 

“Yep. Look at my shoes.”

 

**-**

 

Tony finds that he owns a lot of shoes. That’s what he tells himself whenever the meets Ben. Just a lot of shoes, shoes that could easily be shipped off to be shined or even just thrown out. Yet he keeps finding more and more reasons to see Ben. Something about the kid draws him in. The café becomes like a second home to him and he spends his most of his time thinking about the kid. 

 

Ben doesn’t change much, it seems odd to Tony. How can you give someone nearly $1000 and not have them change, not even a little bit? He’s still in his ratty shoes and his thin sweater. The kid has a better shoe shining kit now though.

 

“Hey, Mr. Stark! Did you come to get your shoes shined again? Wow! You must have a lot of shoes!” Normally, he would quip back, but it doesn’t add up. Ben starts to approach him, but Tony takes a step back. Ben’s eyes fill with hurt. “Sir?” Tony shakes his head and walks to the café.

 

Bruce is waiting in a booth for him. “Hey, Brucie.” Bruce looks over at him with concern, but Tony waves him off. He gives him one last glance before returning to his tea. The news is playing on a small TV mounted on the wall.

 

“At a glace, there has been a significant increase in homelessness over the past months. However, a second look will show that many of these beggars are spending their days on the streets but go home to warm beds and full cabinets when night falls. These fakers are crowding streets, blocking shops, and making our homes unsafe. Men, women, and especially children are taking advantage of our sympathy and we must stop it. More on how to identify and treat these phones soon to come. Back to you, Allen.”   
  


The news strikes Tony deep. Everything clicks into place; the shoes and sweater are all an act; why would a kid be on the streets other than to make ‘easy’ money; the dirt was probably all planned too. And the lying about his name too, of course, he would lie, he was lying about everything. A smiling dirty face makes its way to the front of Tony’s thoughts, but he pushes it back. God, he’s so stupid. How did he not realize, he’s a genius for heaven’s sake.

 

“Tones?” Bruce tilts his head. “What’s running through that brain of yours?” Tony shakes his head trying to clear it. He takes a long drink of his coffee. 

 

“Nothing, Brucie-Bear. Just haven’t slept since Thursday.”

 

“Thursday? Jesus, Tony, it’s Monday!” Tony shrugs and looks over Bruce’s shoulder at the now falling rain. 

 

**-**

 

The winter months came quickly to New York and snow was piling up faster than they could get rid of it. Christmas was approaching fast and SI workers were getting into all the festivities: holiday parties, food, decorations, you name it. Even the Avengers had the Christmas itch. Tony, however, couldn’t help from being sour. Yet another Christmas he was going to ruin because he didn’t feel like he had done enough to deserve it. 

 

One night the team was trying to decide where to eat out. “Let’s go to that café you’re always dragging us to.”  _ Had he really been going there that often?  _ “Yeah, we haven’t gone in a while.”

 

“Tin Can hasn’t even invited me to go once!”

 

“That’s because it would be like taking a temperamental toddler in the body of a full-grown man, Bird-Brain.” 

 

Tony knew about a hundred different ways to get to the café, and yet he still leads them through the street where he’d met Ben. Tony kind of hoped he would see the boy, just to know he was doing alright, but the kid was nowhere in sight.

 

“Wait, do you hear that?” Clint paused and tilted his head in the direction of an alley. They walked cautiously, then Tony heard it.  _ Wailing.  _ The deep sobbing of a child. Ben flashed through his mind.  _ BenBenBenBenBen.  _ He rushed in. His breath caught.

 

A tiny stick of a kid was huddled over a mass of dirty blankets. “No, please. Please don’t leave me, Mrs. Morris. Please don’t go.  _ Please don’t go.”  _ The boy throws himself into the old lady’s frail arms. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t pay for your medicine, Mrs. Morris. Please don’t die.” Tony couldn’t breathe as he watched the lady’s hand fall limply from the boy’s cheek-- _ Ben’s cheek.  _ Ben lets out a scream, but it quickly turns into deep coughs. Tony surges forward to rub Ben’s back. “God, she’s dead. She’s gone. She’s dead. It’s all my fault. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s-” He cuts off, coughing harshly. 

 

“Breathe, buddy, you have to breathe.” Tony feels Ben clutch at his jacket. His face scrunches in pain before going blank--as if the life had just been drained from his body. Tony’s eyes look frantically to Bruce. “What do we do?” He feels his heart in his throat, the pounding is loud and frantic. 

 

Someone tries to take Ben from him, but he holds the boy tighter. Steve’s caring blue eyes make their way into his field of vision. 

 

“Tony, let me carry him back to the tower.” Tony’s thoughts race.  _ Steve won’t drop him, he’ll be fine, this is all my fault.  _ When Steve picks Ben up from Tony’s lap, their arms brush. Steve is warm.  _ Fast metabolism- _ his brain supplies. Ben is lifeless in the captain’s arms. There’s no happy shuffle, no big brown eyes, no ‘Mr. Stark!’. Tony panics again; Bruce answers his questions before he asks them.

 

“Probably exhaustion, dehydration, some stage of hypothermia, stress,” the scientist pauses, then finishes, “starvation.” Tony feels like the worst person on earth. He can hardly breathe. Rhodey helps him up and the group moves into action, rushing back to the tower.

 

The little boy in Steve’s arms looks too young, too small, too frail. Ben hasn’t woken up and Tony hasn’t slept. Ben was 39 pounds, severely dehydrated, and hypothermic. Bruce called it a miracle that Ben hadn’t lost a finger, Tony called it his fault. Tony could count every rib in the boy’s body-malnourishment- _ his fault.  _ Ben had pneumonia, Bruce said it was probably from untreated bronchitis and Ben wouldn’t have lived through it if they hadn’t found him.  _ Pneumonia,  _ Tony had found, was the leading cause of death worldwide for children under 5. Ben was the weight of a five-year-old but he could be six or even seven, just thinking about it made his heart stutter.

 

**-**

 

Ben has been asleep for several days, Tony still hasn’t slept. It was nearing dawn when Ben’s face pinched and he let out a whimper. Tony shushed him quietly and hit Bruce’s call button. Ben’s dazed eyes fell on Tony. “Dad?” He rasped. Tony’s heart thudded rapidly in his chest. Ben was asleep before Bruce made it to the MedBay.

 

It kept happening. Ben would wake up calling out for people. Tony knew Ben was delirious when he had called him ‘Mrs. Morris.’ He had a list of names the kid cried out: Dad, Mommy, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Mrs. Morris, and Mr. Stark. He didn’t know why the kid would call out for him, but his eyes always welled with tears. Several times the other Avengers would be there with it happened. Pepper had burst into tears when Ben has squeezed her hand and cried out for ‘Mommy.’

 

Ben’s voice woke him one night.  _ When had he fallen asleep? _ A soft, “Mr. Stark?” Tony stroked the back of the boy’s hand with his thumb. “Is it snowing?” Tony looked at the window, sure enough, the snow was falling heavily.

 

“I guess it is, buddy.”

 

“I’m-I’m not cold?”

 

“No, you’re inside.”

 

A quiet ‘oh’ was his response. One of Ben’s hands reached for his hair. Tony watched silently as shock crept into the face. “What is it, kid?” Tony asked softly. Ben grabbed Tony’s hand and brought it to his hair. “It’s soft.”

 

“Yeah, buddy.” Ben releases his own hair to touch Tony’s. He hums contently. He moves Tony’s hand back to his head. Tony runs his fingers through the boy’s curls, gently working away the knots. “How old are you, kiddo?” Ben pauses, eyes peeking open.

 

“Eight.” A breath gets stuck in his chest.  _ The kid weighs not even 40 pounds and he’s eight.  _ “Mr. Stark?” Ben’s voice reminds him to breathe.

 

“Tony, Ben, call me Tony.”

 

“I guess I should tell you I’m not Ben?” Tony expected the kid to be lying about his name, but he had also expected to have to coax it out of him. “Ben is--was my uncle.”  _ Dazed brown eyes. “Uncle Ben?”  _ “I’m really Peter. Peter Parker.”

 

_ Peter Parker.  _ Tony gives Peter a soft smile. “Hi, Peter.” Peter giggles. “How are you so calm?”  _ How are you not screaming at me?  _

 

“Because you saved me.” It’s not a question. There’s no hesitation, no room for doubt. Peter’s eyes slide shut once more, and his steady breathing and calm heartbeat tell Tony he’s really sleeping. Tony waits a little longer carding his fingers through Peter’s curls. It’s hard for him to take in a breath, but he can’t bring himself to part from Peter. He lets his own eyes slip shut and sleep takes him too.

 

**-**

 

Steve and Bucky had gone back to the alley once they had gotten Ben settled. They buried Mrs. Morris in one of New York’s finest cemeteries. They hadn’t found much: a shoe polishing kit, some empty medication bottles for Mrs. Morris, and a tattered picture of the little boy smiling happily next to four people.  _ “Our little munchkin’s first science award! With Ben and May!”  _ Steve had felt tears well in his eyes at the picture. The boy was so little.

 

Pepper had helped Tony through a lot. She knew the pain he associated with the word ‘father’ but the way he was with Ben couldn’t be described as anything else. She had taken the job of washing the boy’s hair, Tony said he could do it but she saw the way his hands shook. Tony had fallen asleep when she was drying Ben’s curls. She stayed with him for a little longer and when Ben had called her ‘Mommy’ she felt her heart burst. 

 

From the moment Bruce had heard the crying he had been nervous. Tony had been panicked. He watched his friend comfort a child with a scared voice. Bruce had seen the frantic way he’d looked for the doctor when the boy had gone limp. He hadn’t seen Tony sleep since before they’d found Ben. No one had known how Tony knew the kid, but seeing the attachment the man had with the kid, they didn’t question it.

 

Bruce came down to the MedBay with a plate for Tony, he was expecting Tony to be either hunched over the kid or passed out in his chair. Instead, he heard a low tired voice followed by a soft giggle. He set the plate down on the table near the doorway taking out his phone to capture the moment. Tony’s eyes were lit up, in one hand he had a small Iron Man and in the other, he had a piece of paper folded to look like a swan. Ben’s eyes were watching Tony intently, face glowing with amusement. Tony took the small toy and flew it right by the kid’s face and the kid let out a happy laugh. Bruce’s gaze caught Ben’s and the boy tensed, eyes shooting to Tony. 

 

Tony spun around in his chair putting himself between Bruce and Ben. “Easy, Tony.” Bruce puts his hand up in surrender.

 

“Hey, Brucie. Peter this is Bruce. Bruce this is Peter.” Tony waves a hand, gesturing to Peter.

 

“Hi, Peter. How are you feeling?” Peter shrugs. His gaze finds the plate of food for Tony, but he quickly looks away. “Are you hungry?” Peter nods timidly. “Alright, I’ll be back in a second with something. Keep this old man busy, will you.” Peter laughs and Bruce feels the weight in his chest loosen its grip.

 

**-**

 

Peter’s progress was slow. It was hard for Tony to watch as the kid threw up his lunch, stomach not quite ready yet. Peter was small, he needed every meal they gave him, but they were making progress none the less. Peter and Pepper bonded quickly, it was strange, Tony thought he would be jealous, but seeing Peter’s happy face was the only thing he needed. 

 

Steve had grown so fond of Peter, giving him piggy-back rides and holding him close. Peter had rapidly become obsessed with Bucky’s metal arm. Clint had nearly given Tony a heart attack one day. The bird-brain had taken Peter on a tour of the tower vents, at one point they got to a cool patch of metal and Peter had a breakdown. Peter doesn’t go back in the vents. 

 

Rhodey was one of the kid’s favorites, there was something he latched onto whenever Rhodey was around, whether it was the soft eyes or the soothing voice Peter was drawn to it. It wasn’t uncommon to see Peter sitting with the man just listening to his voice. 

 

No one expected Natasha’s reaction to Peter. He had been doing a puzzle wrapped in a blanket while Sam made them hot chocolate. Natasha sat down on the couch behind Peter. It was all calm until Peter had started to sniffle. Natasha shifted slightly on the couch, catching Peter’s attention. His eyes flickered from the puzzle to Natasha. Sam was ready to call Tony, but the spy just opened her arms. Peter rushed forward into them. Sam looked at the puzzle, a kitten curled tightly next to its mother, he set down the mugs of cocoa. Natasha kissed Peter’s head and Sam rubbed his arms until he had fallen asleep.

 

But by the end of the day, Tony was always Peter’s favorite. He would snuggle so close to Tony, it looked like he was going to fuse right into his side.

 

“Alright, time for little Peter to go to bed.” Tony stood with a groan. He scooped his kid up into his arms.

 

“Can I sleep with you, Dad?” Peter burrows deep into Tony.

 

“Of course, squirt. Say goodnight, Petey-Pie.” The Avengers let out goodnights and Peter gives a sleepy wave in return.

 

“Dad?” Peter whispers. “Thank you for saving me. I love you.” Tony thinks about the completed adoption papers on his desk and smiles. He gives Peter’s curls gentle kisses. His eyes fill with warmth. “I would go to the ends of the universe to save you, Peter. I love you so much.” Peter hums contently and the pair drifts off to sleep.

 

_ The End  _

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know your favorite part and scream at me on my tumblr: adaisyspetals


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